The six missiles Iran launched at the US airbase in Qatar were apparently meant to “return the damage” caused by the six US bombs dropped on Iranian nuclear site at Fordow, former US Department of Defense analyst Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.
“The message is that what Iran says it will do, it will do, in contrast to Trump and his administration’s devious use of negotiations for the purpose of a surprise attack,” Kwiatkowski explains.
“It also sends the message that Iran’s defensive capability is operational, as also witnessed by the steady and purposeful missile and drone strikes on Israel.”
However, while the US leadership “should see this one-for-one symbolic return fire as meant to balance but not expand hostilities,” Israel needs further escalation to “reach their own goals in the region” and to ensure Netanyahu’s “political survival.”
“For this reason I am not confident that the US will be able to read Iran correctly, and seek to deescalate,” Kwiatkowski warns.
